There is a growing trend in the United States to choose green “death care” options. My clients bring this up more frequently these days. They are choosing to put this in their estate planning documents as their plan of choice. The term “Green Burial” means that the body is buried, but there is no embalming of the body, no liners or vaults, using biodegradable containers, whether caskets, shrouds, or nothing at all. The Green Burial Council (GBC), a non-profit organization that encourages environmentally sound burials, states that “Green burial is a way of caring for the dead with minimal environmental impact that furthers ecological aims such as the conservation of natural resources, reduction of carbon emissions, protection of worker health, and the restoration and/or preservation of a habitat.”
As it turns out, traditional cremation is not actually environmentally friendly. While it does conserve land space, the cremation process relies on fossil fuels and produces high carbon emissions that are harmful to the environment. In addition, cremation does not benefit the natural ecosystem as a Green Burial would.
Two new options have now been legalized in Maryland. On May 9th of this year, Maryland became the ninth state to legalize human composting and water cremation thus this allows death care providers to offer natural organic reduction and alkaline hydrolysis instead of conventional incineration of human remains. Natural organic reduction means the acceleration conversion of human remains to soil. Don’t worry, the Act prohibits the soil resulting from human composting from being used to grow food for humans or animals. In addition, it cannot be sold, be combined with commercial or agricultural compost, and can only be used on public or private property with the owner’s permission. Water cremation is the process of turning our bodies into ashes using a solution of water and alkaline agents, rather than using fossil fuel to incinerate them.
After the composting process, the soil is returned to the family or donated to conservation projects. Water cremation, on the other hand, results in ashes similar to that after a cremation, which can then be handled by the family as they would normally after a cremation. The Act permits both of these processes to be utilized by registered “reduction facilities”, likely existing crematories who will provide the additional services, and provides regulatory oversight as it always has for cemeteries, crematories, and similar businesses.
In addition to the new options of water cremation and natural organic reduction, there are several cemeteries in Maryland that offer completely natural burial options: Serenity Ridge in Windsor Mill, Maryland is already in existence, and Reflection Park in Silver Spring should be opening soon. There are also several hybrid cemeteries that have both green and traditional burial sites. These physical spaces are beautiful and peaceful.
Our Trust and Estates Team frequently discuss these things with our clients. We tend to be practical when it comes to assisting our clients with planning for their eventual death. This alleviates the need for their families to guess at what their final wishes were. We encourage our clients to look into the various options and decide what makes sense for them and for their families; and definitely consider planning to take advantage of some of these newer, more natural, and environmentally friendly options.
If you have questions about green burials, please contact Leah B. Morabito at lmorabito@mcmillanmetro.com or call directly at (240) 778-2310 to set up a time to discuss the matter
